Park Lane Apartments on Nob Hill began life as an 8-story apartment building. In 1929 three floors were added -- and architect Edward E. Young made them into quite a show.

Park Lane Apartments on Nob Hill began life as an 8-story apartment building. In 1929 three floors were added -- and architect Edward E. Young made them into quite a show.

Photo: John King

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A Nob Hill topping of grandiose bling

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The proportions are all wrong on this Nob Hill corner, an overwrought architectural summit, as if the middle 20 floors are severed from sight by the angle of your view. The reason is simple - three floors were added in 1929, in time to watch the boom go bust - but the visual payoff is more complex. What we see is a piece of jewelry adorning this historic bastion of wealth, a complement to such formal treasures as the Fairmont Hotel and Huntington Park. Elsewhere it would jar. Here, the moderne molding serves as stately bling.